351 - Megachurches - Hahrie Han

What have scientists learned about the social infrastructure of megachurches that not only explains their growth but also their resilience, and how can we apply what we've learned to institutions that are not megachurches? Political scientists Hahrie Han joins us to explain why belonging is more important than belief when it comes to the push-pull of top-down and bottom-up within organizations that depend on fractal superstructures of cellular relationships in order to survive internal conflict.Hahrie HanUndividedMegachurch DatabaseHow Minds ChangeDavid McRaney’s TwitterYANSS TwitterShow NotesNewsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There are several ways to define pluralistic ignorance, and that’s because it’s kind of a brain twister when you try to put it into words. Strange and harmful behavior can follow from the fact that, on certain issues, most people believe that most people believe what, in truth, few people believe. Or put another way, pluralistic ignorance is the erroneous belief that the majority is acting in a way that matches its internal philosophies, and that you are one of a small number of people who feel differently, when in reality the majority agrees with you on the inside but is afraid to admit it outright or imply such through its behavior. Everyone in a group, at the same time, gets stuck following a norm that no one wants to follow, because everyone is carrying a shared, false belief about everyone else’s unshared true beliefs.Deborah Prentice’s WebsiteRobb Willer’s WebsiteRobb Willer’s TwitterHow Minds ChangeDavid McRaney’s TwitterYANSS TwitterShow NotesNewsletter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jesse Richardson wants to improve our critical thinking about AI risk through the gamification of our rampant speculation. In this episode he explains AI safety isn't just one thing, there are a bunch of different risk profiles and each needs to be considered critically.Previous EpisodesHow Minds ChangeIs It Game OverSchool of ThoughtJesse Richardson’s WebsiteYour Bias IsYour Fallacy IsMelanie Mitchell on AI IntelligenceDavid McRaney’s TwitterDavid McRaney’s BlueSkyYANSS TwitterYANSS FacebookNewsletterPatreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We return to The Dress and the psychological lessons offered by one of the most viral moments in the history of the internet via an episode of Decoder Ring in which David McRaney shares some insights from his book, How Minds Change, with Willa Paskin, the host of Decoder Ring.Decoder RingDecoder Ring's The Dress PageWilla Paskin's TwitterCBC Interview with Willa PaskinIs It Game Over?How Minds ChangeDavid McRaney’s TwitterYANSS TwitterShow NotesNewsletterPatreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Astronomer Phil Plait joins us to discuss his new book, Under Alien Skies, in which he describes what it would be like (through human eyes and real physical experiences) to actually travel to Saturn, Mars, asteroids, and distant stars. Also, we discuss the recent surge in UFO sighting as well as his famous talk at The Amazing Meeting. Previous Episodes How Minds Change Under Alien Skies Phil Plait's Newsletter Phil Plait's Substack David McRaney’s Twitter David McRaney’s BlueSky YANSS Twitter YANSS Facebook Newsletter Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The suffering is real, but the source may not be what you assume. That's the essence of the nocebo effect, the placebo effect's evil twin. As neuroscientist Dr. Helen Pilcher explains, illness is not simply a matter of biology. Our thoughts, conscious or otherwise, can make lead to symptoms in unexpected ways.  Previous Episodes How Minds Change Dr. Helen Pilcher This Book May Cause Side Effects David McRaney’s Twitter David McRaney’s BlueSky YANSS Twitter YANSS Facebook Newsletter Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

MIT professor Thomas Levenson, the author of the book A Pox on Fools, takes us through the same repeating patterns throughout history which have led to antivaxxers and vaccine hesitancy since the very first vaccines. Previous Episodes How Minds Change Thomas Levenson A Pox on Fools A History of Vaccines David McRaney’s Twitter David McRaney's BlueSky YANSS Twitter YANSS Facebook Newsletter Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Can intellectual humility be measured? What influences it and affects it, limits it and enhances it? What even is it, scientifically speaking? We explore all of this and then play an episode of How to Be A Better Human featuring psychologist Tenelle Porter telling comedian Chris Duffy how she is researching how to conduct better research into intellectual humility. Previous Episodes Transcript at TED How to Be A Better Human The Gateway Drugs to Intellectual Humility Tenelle Porter's Research Tenelle Porter's Website The Illusion of Explanatory Depth Kitted Shop The Story of Kitted How Minds Change David McRaney’s BlueSky David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Show Notes Newsletter Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What is misinformation? How does it differ from disinformation or just plain ‘ole propaganda? How do we protect ourselves from people with nefarious intentions using all of these things to affect our thoughts, feelings, and behavior? That’s what we discuss in this episode with Matthew Facciani, social scientist and author of Misguided: Where Misinformation Starts, How it Spreads, and What We Can Do About It. Matthew Facciani's Website The Misguided Podcast Misguided Kitted Shop The Story of Kitted How Minds Change David McRaney's BlueSky David McRaney’s Twitter YANSS Twitter Show Notes Newsletter Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tim Harford of the podcast Cautionary Tales sits down with David McRaney to hear a story from David's book, How Minds Change, about how (and why) a prominent conspiracy theorist realized he was wrong. Charlie Veitch was certain that 9/11 was an inside job. The attack on the World Trade Center wasn’t the work of Al-Qaeda, but an elaborate conspiracy. He became a darling of so-called “9/11 truthers” until he actually visited Ground Zero to meet architects, engineers and the relatives of the dead. The trip changed his mind. His fellow “truthers” did not take Charlie’s conversion well. Kitted Previous Episodes How Minds Change Cautionary Tales Tim Harford David McRaney’s Twitter David McRaney’s BlueSky YANSS Twitter YANSS Facebook Newsletter Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.